Culminating the much-awaited anticipations, the recently unveiled Gulfstream G700 took to the air for the first time on February 14th, 2020. Since the announcement made by Gulfstream President Mark Burns in December 2019 during the National Business Aviation Associations in Las Vegas, players in the aviation industry have been eagerly waiting for this moment. Well, it came, and the Gulfstream G700 went airborne for 2 hours and 32 minutes, departing the Savannah/Hilton International Airport at 1: 19 p.m. running on a 30/70 mixture of sustainable aviation fuel.

Since the announcement made by Gulfstream President Mark Burns in December 2019 during the National Business Aviation Associations in Las Vegas, players in the aviation industry have been eagerly waiting for this moment. Well, it came, and the Gulfstream G700 went airborne for 2 hours and 32 minutes, departing the Savannah/Hilton International Airport at 1: 19 p.m. running on a 30/70 mixture of sustainable aviation fuel.

The Inaugural Flight

As it is with other airplane manufacturers, the G700 first flight was a significant occasion and a view into Gulfstream’s future vision, guided by innovation and strategic leadership. As he made the announcement, the company’s president assured delegates that Gulfstream is not only a market leader but also working on ensuring that the entire jet industry betters the coming technology and improved safety features that meet customer expectations.

G700 Performance

The Gulfstream G700 features an award-winning Symmetry Flight Deck and other modern safety installations. The flight deck has a predictive landing performance system that gives pilots timely indicators of how the runway looks like as they approach. The Gulfstream Enhanced Flight Vision System and Synthetic Vision also aid in a safe landing.

The Rolls Royce Pearl 700 engines, which match the industry’s top maximum speed of Mach 0.925 previously set by the G650, powers it. It can fly up to 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of Mach 0.85, which is slightly less than the Bombardier’s 7,700 nautical miles at the same speed.

G700 Cabin

The Gulfstream G700 is currently, without doubt, the world’s largest private jet. For some time now, two of aviation’s biggest brands have been battling for supremacy in the skies. So, it wasn’t long before the Bombardier Global 7500 overtook the Gulfstream G650, becoming the biggest business jet in the world. Since then, the 7500 enjoyed a pleasant reign, breaking records, impressing jet settlers, and pilots alike. However, Gulfstream had no plans of submitting to the defeat for long.

The Gulfstream G700 has the tallest and widest cabin in the aviation industry. The 57-foot long, 6-feet tall and 8-foot wide cabin cannot be compared to any other plane in the industry. The cabin features up to 5 living areas, in addition to a dining and conference table area, a master suite complete with a shower, and an extra-large passenger lounge or crew compartment galley.

The Gulfstream G700 also comes with an advanced circadian lighting system that recreates sunrise and sunset, thus helps in reducing jet lag associated with traveling across time zones.

Overall, the Gulfstream G700 combines the intriguing features of the G500 and G600 for superior performance. The G700 operates on short, high altitude and weight-restricted runways. The first flight officially paved the way for more rigorous flight-test programs on this spacious jet with the longest range of fastest speeds. It culminated the approximately 14,000 hours of lab tests with five test jets used in its production.